My Unwanted Fourth Child

I have a love hate relationship with church. I have had periods in my life when I needed church to get me through the week. There have also been times when I didn't go at all. I spent last year working for my church and it almost killed me. I had really thought about going into some sort of ministry, but the past year put the nail in that coffin. I believe that it is important to have a spiritual center to your life and I get a sense of fulfillment through religion. So it is a little unsettling that what I really love to do on a Sunday is drink coffee, watch CBS Sunday morning (a FAR superior morning show), catch the Patriots game (they kicked the Jets butt today, go Brady!!), listen to A Prairie Home Companion, and cook a big delicious dinner. To me that is the perfect Sunday.
As I get older and church seems to demand more of me I am liking it less. When you are a youngish person with small children and you walk in the doors of the church, you are marked. Everyone in a position of authority sees you as the answer to their prayers, someone to fill the empty committee seat, do the vacant job, or teach the teacherless class. The focus is rarely on what the church can do for you it is increasingly on what you can do for the church. It has become my exhausting unwanted fourth child. I am starting to toy with the idea of leaving it all behind.